Nightingale
by Evide
Summary: You know the legends, now Kouichi must come face to face with his inner darkness or suffer from them for eternity... 0204 cross [suggested to read Legends before this] CH6 reposted!
1. KiriMoya

_Nightingale: ch1--- Kiri-Moya(fog)_

Strongly recomend to read _Legends_ before you go on. ...though it has nothing to do with the action... so why did I write it? --shruggs--

_**Disclaimer: **I don't digimon. There, I said it._

The fog was as thick as smoke and as dark as storm clouds, enveloping the landscape with thick, spidery fingers of mist. Pale black sand sat cooly where the dark liquid didn't touch, the waves massaging the land with almost inaudible lapses. Dim, dark light gave the beach a dead look, with an almost grey sky that reached out forever to touch the ocean. The only landscape neither sand nor water was a dark forest; dead silent and eerie.

But what stood out more than anything was a lone tower perched up on a hillside overlooking the water. It was tall and sturdy but looked almost old, as if it stood still in time. It was made of bare marble with a glass top fixed to let light shine out. The thing that was weird about this lighthouse though, was that instead of shining light out it was casting long dark shadows across the air...

_"The darkness is waiting..."_

A chill rippled down Kouichi's spine as if an invisible wind had blew a cold breeze over his exposed skin. Dread filled his chest and griped his heart as a deep recognition stirred in him. He had been here before... like de j'a vu. Kouichi didn't like it, he felt cold and alone and all around him was dead and dark. It disturbed him deeply and made him stand on end. He felt like he couldn't breath... like de j'a vu.

He jumped up when someone shook him, taking deep surprised gasps. ---_wait... how can I get up when I'm already up?---_ Confusion drowned him as Kouichi was pulled along by his arm. He was surprised to be rushed out into a train station and shoved onto a bench to find himself staring into a mirror. Only his reflection was serious and even a little worried (masked very carefully) and his hair... was longer?

"You all right there, Kouichi?" Kouji asked, laying a hand to his brothers shoulder. Kouichi shook his head to clear his thoughts, holding his forehead with a grimace.

"W-what?" Exactly where was he? He felt... cold, and confused. He gave an involuntary shiver. Kouji shook his head and rubbed his twin's arm for a bit of warmth.

"We're going to be late. Come on." Kouji pulled Kouichi up and rushed out of the station.

"Late? ... for what?"

"We're meeting up with the others today, remember?" Kouji smirked at him and continued to pull his arm through the crowd. Ah, the others. That's right... he must have fell asleep on the train. Kouichi still felt groggy and slow and just opt to let Kouji pull him along. But there was still the matter of his dream... Kouichi shook his head once again. It was probably nothing.

--------------->>>

"Earth to Kouichi!" Takuya waved his hand in front of the teen's face who was gazing out at the clouds. Kouichi jumped back a bit and refocused onto the burnette.

"Sorry... what?" He gave a shiver as a chill ran down his back. Interesting there wasn't any breeze...

"You okay? You look a little off." Zoe pointed out, eyeing the twin. Kouichi just shook his head and glanced at the clouds again.

"I'm fine, really." Kouichi shrugged it off, feeling a little uncomfortable. Kouji studied his brother and looked out to the sunset.

"It's late." Kouji stood up, ending the conversation in a subtle swoop. The others stood up too, out of mere surprise.

"That was quick..." Tommy stated.

"Yeah, it's a little early." J.P. commented. The others all nodded. Something was off... There was a sudden gale that hit the group with an eery melody, making them all shiver.

"Guys, look!" Zoe pointed to the dark sky, now with black clouds swirling about it chaotically.

"I have a bad feeling about all of this..." Takuya commented as the dark clouds began to swirl furiously. What was weird was that the weather only seemed to be on the hill which the chosen all stood on.

"...Where's Kouichi?" Kouji suddenly gasped, turning around to find his double apearantly missing. And indeed there were only five children...

_**TBC... finally!**_

I got it done! FINALLY! Took forever! I swear to make the other chapters smoother... but for now I'm just happy all exams are over and I can post this before January is done. --sigh-- few! Ok, onto chapter 2!


	2. kitsutsu aru

_Nightingale: ch2--- kitsutsu aru (returning)_

So much easier to go on now that the first part is finally up! So this is focused mainly on 02 (ok... only 02) and I'm using dubbed names.

_**Disclaimer: **I don't digimon. There, I said it._

"_The darkness is waiting..."_

Red flags danced in Ken's mind, making him sit up in alert. His eyes turned away from the computer and scanned his room in slight alarm.

"Did you hear that, Wormmon?" Ken asked the little insect digimon curled up in his lap like a small dog.

"Hear what?" Wormmon shuffled around to gaze up into his partner's eyes. The digimon blinked at him in slight concern, "Did you hear something?" Ken shook his head and pet his friend softly.

"No, it was nothing." The teen returned to the computer and gasped.

"What is it, Ken-chan?" Wormmon inched up to Ken's shoulder in worry to stare at the screen but nothing was apparently wrong. "What is it?" He asked again. The boy gently lifted his friend down to his knee, face masking worry with a soft expression.

"Nothing, its nothing..." Ken smiled absently, hand reaching out to quickly shut the computer off. He retreated out to the patio and let Wormmon take to the rail while he stared off into the clouds.

Wormmon watched his partner, studying his quirky behavior and hesitant moves. "Ken, please. Is something the matter?" He pleaded, tugging at Ken's shirt with a pout.

"...listen" Ken spoke so softly Wormmon thought it was the wind; but then he noticed there was no breeze, though he felt chilly. His digimon senses heightened on command and the bug tuned into the distant sounds of... water. Far away and muffled slightly that made him feel like he was drowning. The trancing melody of ocean on land... Ken shivered; he could just _sense_ the elusive gale of wind from the water; cold and damp. It was quiet too... like silent death.

Quickly becoming terrified, Ken brushed back into the safety of his room. The sounds ceased as the digimon closed the glass door, but it wasn't just the sounds of the water that stopped. Every noise, every breath just paused. Time halted... the earth stopped spinning... and all of the sound just ended.

"_The darkness is waiting..."_

Then, there was darkness.

--------------->>>

Davis let out a frustrated cry as his incoming e-mail from Ken got deleted. Why oh why couldn't that Ichijoji make up his mind?

"I guess Ken doesn't want to play m&m's..." Demiveemon stated, dangling from the desk at which the computer was on.

"It's called E-mail; not m&m's! ...But now you've made me hungry." Davis trailed off and since he didn't hear the incoming message, Demiveemon decided he would open it. The little digimon climbed onto the desk and clicked them mouse button and the window popped open.

"Davis!" Demiveemon gasped. The red head snapped back to attention and got a glimpse of some sort of video before it deleted itself all together from the screen.

"...What was that?" The teen started to fiddle around with the mouse and tried to re-receive his message but his connection with Ken had been terminated. "What the?" He started to get a bit frustrated but then a new connection opened and he was greeted by a letter. Hearts danced in his eyes as he identified the one who had sent it to him (A/N: you get one guess).

"Why would Kari want to m&m you?" Demiveemon wondered out loud and then opened the message for his love-struck partner.

_Davis,_

_I think there is trouble in the digital world. Please meet me and the others at the library ASAP. See if you can get Ken._

_--Kari_

"That's weird." Davis said after reading the message.

"What? That Kari m&m'd you?"

"Augh, no! I meant that video," Davis wasn't a good ponderer and it hurt his brain to try to make a connection. Instead he just grabbed his goggles and headed out the door with Demiveemon on his shoulder toward the library. He could think about it later... maybe.

--------------->>>

Kari, T.K., Cody, Yolie and Izzy were a bit frustrated when Davis showed up Ken-less. The goggle head just said he forgot because of a strange video he had been thinking about.

"You saw that video too?" T.K. asked quickly, glancing at the clue-less leader.

"So I guess it wasn't a coincidence then." Cody guessed and the others nodded (except for Davis who was getting very confused).

"But what was it exactly?" Yolie wondered, squeezing Poromon with worry. "What did we see?"

Kari took a deep breath like if she were preparing herself. "It was... the dark ocean," she muttered, looking very distressed. T.K. immediately put his hand over Kari's in comfort (which made Davis twitch) and tired to look confidant for her.

"So you all saw the d--... the video?" Davis corrected himself, glancing at Kari and then looking around at the others, digimon all spread out around them.

Izzy, who was typing away on his laptop, spoke up: "For some reason, only you five got it. Ken makes six, assuming he received it, also."

"Only the newer digidestined got it?" Patamon and Gatomon chorused and Izzy nodded, still indulged in his screen.

"Take a look at this!" Izzy suddenly exclaimed and leaned back for the others to see the laptop. Expecting to see some e-mail or, Angemon forbid, the dark ocean video once again, the digidestined were very surprised to see the whole screen full of what Izzy was looking at. It was almost like as if you were staring down from the sky looking at five lone figures on a hill below. Dark clouds made the screen seem to focus on just the kids who were staring almost straight up at them. Davis could just see light glint off of a pair of goggles, brown eyes almost staring right into him.

"Aaah!" The kids around the machine all let out a sudden cry as some sort of force made them all fall to the floor. Something was on top of them, and it wasn't their digimon.

"Well... that was... weird."

_**TBC**_

My, these chapters are short, I don't know were to end them! And since this is going to be a (hopefully) long story, I will introduce my muse; RYU! Yes, that is 'dragon' in japanese because he is a dragon. Say hello, Ryu.

RYU: who me? Oh, hello Ryu!

me/rolls eyes/ Ryu is very unpredictable and I think it will be fun to have him around... Maybe.

RYU: nn! Ok, c ya in the next chapter! Ja matta ne!


	3. Kage

_Nightingale: ch3— Kage (shadow)_

Yey! Angst scenes, finally! And even Ryu is here to ensure chaos ensues.

RYU: 0o I'm not sure what that meant, and i thought you wanted angst... not chaos

... Well, chaos will lead to angst. You'll understand once you read this, I think.

_**RYU: **Evide dose not own any frontier anything and if she did, I wouldn't be here doing a disclaimer._

Ken held his breath to keep from getting winded as he felt the world around him rush. His arms carefully held his partner, protecting him from this strange ordeal. He felt himself being buffeted around violently but refused to let his grip down or to fall. His defiance paid off as the invisible wind died down and dim light started to fill up around him. Ken found himself surrounded on all sides by a circular white marble wall, the only thing in the room (if you could call it a room) was a lone staircase, circling above him. Perplexed and confused, Ken found nothing better to do than climb the stairs, not knowing were they would lead.

With his D-3 gone and his partner out cold, Ken was feeling quite vulnerable and he was getting very frightened the higher he climbed. His footsteps echoed silently up the stairs and his breath started to get shallower. Every step Ken took he felt like he was getting closer... And then there were other sounds.

It sounded like voices; talking and yelling above him. The teen tried to sneak upwards even more to listen, trying to keep his breath quiet. The closer he got the more he could understand.

"Do you know where you are?" A voice shouted above him. He couldn't hear the voice that answered but was sure someone else was there. After some sort of reply there was a loud /crack/... it made Ken shiver at the memories. All the time he, as the kaiser, had whipped the innocent digimon... that sound was not pleasant at all.

"Where is the seed, you parasite?" The voice shouted. There was another inaudible reply. _'A... seed...?' _Ken thought and stopped suddenly. Wormmon stirred in his arms as another /crack/ echoed loudly down the hall. Ken continued to climb, shifting his hold on the digimon a bit."Ken-chan? Where are we?" Wormmon croaked out softly. Ken gave him a reassuring smile and hushed him as the conversation from above calmed down. The digimon crawled down onto the stairs to walk beside his partner.

As they circled, the two finally found the end of the stairs. In front of them was a marble wall... in other words, a dead end. Ken sighed in disappointment as Wormmon inched up to the end. His pointed little arms reached out to feel the stone to try to find some sort of weak point and he gasped as his hand fell through suddenly and his balance was lost. Ken looked down at the digimon who glanced up at him before heading right through the wall. Ken gasped and hurriedly tried to follow his friend and stumbled through the marble.

This part of the tower didn't have the same white marble as the rest of it had. It was a larger circular room covered in shadowy grey stone. It reminded Ken of a dungeon; the wall lined with black shackles that gave him chills. The teen turned around to find regular stone and pressed his hand up against its rough, cool surface. There was no way to get back. To his side his eyes found wooden steps protruding from the walls continuing up into another place by an open trap door.

"...wh— who is that?" Ken jumped as he was suddenly addressed by a young, hurt voice. The sound came from the darker part of the round room and Ken had to step closer to see...

* * *

Meanwhile...

Kouichi was swept off of his feet, landing on hard stone instead of the soft grass of the hill he had been on. Winded, the teen tried to get up by putting a hand on the stone. He gasped as a foot was placed in front of him. He was pulled up suddenly by a rough, gloved hand by his hair and he let out a cry.

"Ow! Let go!" Kouichi demanded, hands trying to pry whatever was holding him. He gasped as cold blue eyes met his. He was looking at another kid, with crazy blue hair and a strange outfit made for some sort of... emperor. He was released and the stranger placed some sort of sun glasses over his eyes.

"Your not the one I wanted, but I guess you will do." He spat coldly. Kouichi just stood there in confusion, starting to look around himself at the round, stone room. Where was he? Where was Kouji? The stranger grasped him suddenly by his neck, lifting him off of his feet. Kouichi struggled for breath his mind filling with fear.

"L-let me go!" He gasped, his mind getting foggy as the other pressed him up to the wall. It was getting so hard to breath...

"Insolent fool, do you know who I am!" There was no answer as the air was pressed out of Kouichi's lungs. The stranger smirked. "I am the Digimon Emperor. And you... shall never see the light of day again." He could barely understand him... darkness was swimming in front of his vision... he couldn't breath...

--------------->>>

Kouichi coughed violently as he regained consciousness. He felt very disoriented as he noticed his feet did not touch the ground and yet he was standing up. And there was a stinging pain in his wrists... He felt very cold as the stone scraped against his bare side, making him shiver uncomfortably. He moaned in pain and jarred the shackles on his hands in frustration. The rattling chains caught the attention of the Emperor as he appeared in front of the twin. Kouichi's blood ran cold as he identified a weapon in the others hands.

"So, you decided to wake up." Kouichi was having difficulty thinking. This person... was the _digimon_ emperor? He never heard of an emperor... or never knew of another humon in the digital world at all. Was he even human? "Answer me when I address you!" He cracked his whip on the ground as a threat. Kouichi winced and turned his head away; this guy meant business.

"Wh-what do you want?" Kouichi croaked out defiantly.

The emperor griped his whip harshly and pointed it above Kouichi's head. He looked up to see the through a trap door out through the top. Outside were dark clouds swirling above him, and a dark light that gave him the chills.

"Tell me where you are." It was so familiar... he was entranced. It was so cold, too. He didn't understand.

"I said, _Do you know where you are_?" The other shouted. Kouichi snapped back to him frightfully.

"I-I don't know," he said quietly, looking down. The emperor grew angry and cracked his whip against Kouichi's pale skin. It stung and the twin could feel warm liquid seep down his back.

"You've been here before," the other hissed under his breath. He smirked again and shook his head. "No matter then. I'll just take your seed instead."

"I don't know what your talking about." Kouichi glanced at him from the side. His face grew angry again.

"The seed," he hissed, "_Where is the seed, you parasite_?" His hands raised above him and came down with another loud whip. It hurt so much that Kouichi started to pant. His back tingled painfully and irritably; he wished it would stop.

"Humph. You must have a seed to come here... or otherwise be the child of light." Child of light? Was that Kouji? Was his twin here? "I_ will _find your seed, even if you don't know what it is." And with that, the emperor disappeared. Kouichi let out a small sigh... at least he would be left alone. And his head hurt so much...

There was a sudden gasp in the room and Kouichi could make out two figures enter into the prison. The first was bug like but way too big to be any insect he knew of... unless... it was a digimon? And the other figure was a person. Kouichi almost thought it was the emperor again, but saw that his blue hair was smoother. Was it... could it be Kouji?

_**TBC...**_

I could go on and on with this, but I'll just leave you hanging. I know I'm so mean and all, but now you've got to read the next, ne? See how I can do that to you? I hate it too, but at least I update pretty fast.

RYU: i still didn't see any chaos.

Oh well. It'll be more chaotic in the next, I promise... mwahahaha! (/shifty eyes/)

RYU: Angst is good for the soul! Chapter four coming soon!


	4. Shukai

_Nightingale: ch4— Shukai (meeting)_

At first, the chapter's names were just there for it to be there. This one actually fits this chapter,

RYU: yeah, and boy is there going to be some chaos in here!

And FYI, there will be no cross romance or yoai in this fic. It's all going to stay relativily in cannon. (but I do like yoai)

RYU: Just admit that you can't help but put yoai in your fics.

... SSHH!

Ok, for ages; its been only a few months scince the fall of Lucemon and all the frontier are still the same age and it's before the ending episode somewhere in 02. That's all I've got. And also, for the dividers, a regular line will be swiching from Ken&Kouichi to the others (and vise versa) while my own dividers only mean that a little time has gone by. We okay on that? good.

_**RYU: **Lets just get on with the fic... which Evide does not own!_

"...wh— who is that?" Ken jumped as he was suddenly addressed by a young, hurt voice. The sound came from the darker part of the round room and Ken had to step closer to see...

"Sam?" It looked so much like him...

"Umm... no. My name is Kouichi." He said quietly.

"Oh... sorry, I just thought you looked like someone I knew." Ken said absently, quietly examining the shackles that Kouichi hung from.

"Oh... I thought you looked like someone else, also. So, who are you?"

"Excuse me, I'm Ken." He said awkwardly, now reaching up to finger the chains.

"What about your... er, friend?" Kouichi nodded to the insect that was trying to hide behind Ken's leg unsuccessfully.

"That's Wormmon." Ken said, picking at the lock. With a clatter the lock broke easily and Kouichi fell an inch onto his feet with his hands still chained together. The two paused to listen if someone had heard them, being extra quiet to pry the shackles off of Kouichi's hands now.

"...So ... your a digimon, right?" Kouichi suddenly asked. Wormmon hesitated with an answer.

"...yes, but... how do you know?" Ken got the locks off and Kouichi rubbed his wrists while he looked for his shirts.

"Well, unless this is the digital world, how are you even here?" Now they were both confused... and Kouichi was still shirtless. Ken shook his head and picked up the clothing from the corner behind him.

"Here," Ken handed the other his clothes and got a quiet 'thank you' from him. He sighed and put a hand to his head. "I'm not sure if we're in the digital world but we should hold off with the stories for later and just try to get out of here."

"There is a trap door open we could go through." Kouichi said while he slipped on his loose green shirt over his tattered back, tying the red one around his waist.

"Um, Kouichi, who was it that was with you?" Wormmon asked, climbing up the wooden steps in front of the two humans.

"Oh... he called himself the Digimon Emperor."

"Well... that was... weird." Takuya complained from under the heap of people.

"You're telling me!" Davis retorted as he looked up into the face of the other goggle-head.

"Not two goggle heads!" Cody exasperated as he noticed the other goggle-headed teen and crawled out from the clump with difficulty.

"Oh la mia qualità!" Izumi exclaimed in Italian as she often did when she was excited, "Guys, look! Digimon!"

A ripple of surprise rushed through everyone, and so now chaos ensued. First, the teens had to untangle themselves and then most of them started to shout out questions. It was all really annoying and no one could hear what the other was saying or anything.

Kouji leaned on the wall away from the screaming with a huff, worried about his twin. Kari was equally worried, but only about the member who hadn't shown. She opened her d-terminal and typed up a quick message and sighed when no one answered. After a minute more of the yelling, Kari got really annoyed.

"shrEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEk!" went Kari's whistle... and everyone shut up.

"Uh, thank you, Kari. Now, I think we deserve an explanation." Izzy spoke. The chosen children all sort of gathered together, giving the others confused stares and weird looks. Takuya was about to say something... but was cut off.

"No time." Kouji turned to his friends, "Kouichi is missing."

"Uuuhh, yeah but there are a few problems..." Takuya replied shakily.

"We have no idea were we are, we don't know were Kouichi is, and there are digimon here." JP said. Kouji gave him an I-know glare and huffed in annoyance.

"Sounds like you need some help." Yolie said smartly, smiling at the frontier.

"T.K., we also have a problem. I can't reach Ken and there is still the problem with the digital world."

"Kari, there is nothing happening in the Digital world, I assure you." Izzy said. Kari sighed but then he continued, "The problem is in the Dark Ocean." He turned to the frontier. "My best bet is to look there for your friend." Izzy said.

"What makes you so sure?" Tommy wondered.

"There is an unknown signal coming from the dark forest, directly connected to the ocean. It looks like a digivises emblem, but it is different from regular." Izzy took out his digivise to show what he meant. Takuya hopefully reached for his pocket almost atomatically. Before he could stop himself he could feel a familiar, comforting bulge there.

_**TBC**_

This was actually a hard chapter. Well, harder than the angst scenes, and shorter. I am way better at angst than action/adventure. —sigh—

RYU: I'm just happy there was some chaos in here! Finally! And Yey for the meetings! Now the other good stuff can come out.

I'm not good at suspense, either (well, except for clifies, which I seem to be doing good at.). More Dark Angst scenes in the next chapter.

RYU: Yeah, and if you were wondering what Izumi was saying in Italian, all we did was google 'Oh my goodness' in the trancelation bar for Italian. nn It was easy! So, the next chapter is to come soon, just you wait!


	5. Yami sezu ni Hikari

_Nightingale: ch5— Yami sezu ni Hikari (darkness without the light)_

-crying- I am so bad! -wails- I-I didn't put the frontier's names in dub; yet all the 02 names were! It messed me up and I cant do alot of diologue for like, 18 people! Some people didn't talk! my chapters are so short and I just want to do the angst! wwaaaaaaaah! -sniff- well, youve all waited patiently and so, I give you chapter five. -sniff-

RYU/ignores uper rants/Ok, the last kouken scene was not really angsty, but this part IS! yey for angst!

Im sorry for my shortness, this will be longer because I decided to put two chapters together. Lucky you.

_**RYU: **Again, if Evide owned digimon, I wouldn't be doing a disclaimer. So Evide does not own anything in this fic except for me and her overactive imagination._

"He called himself the Digimon Emperor..."

Ken felt like he had been dumped into a lake of freezing water. Could it really have been his past come back to hunt him? But then... what did he want with Kouichi? Ken remembered when he had heard yelling... it must have been the kaiser. What was going on?

Kouichi stopped climbing as the other seemed to freeze up. He glanced at Ken worriedly when he didn't move. He heard a soft /klunk/ and his heart sank... The emperor was coming... "Ken! C'mon, lets go!" Kouichi gave Ken a slight push and they rushed up the rest of the way. Ken had a slightly glazed look in his eyes, lost in deep thought. Kouichi urged him through the trap door with Wormmon and then shut it for safe measure, locking the latch.

A sudden darkness enveloped them and they couldn't see... then it disappeared just as quickly. Ken shook his head... his thoughts were becoming hazy as if he was having a head ache while Kouichi seemed transfixed with something behind Ken...

The chosen of Kindness whipped around to find a huge glass dome over an equally huge lightbuld. The light would have burned his eyes... if it was light at all. Darkness swam over Ken and he immediately felt a chill run up his spine. It couldn't be... of all the places; it just couldn't be...

Ken slowly faced out the window to gaze upon the eery water that stretched out below him forever. His heart sank as he finally recognized the darkness around him... and he knew where he was. Him and Kouichi were prisoners of the lighthouse in the Dark Ocean.

* * *

Kouji crossed his arms in annoyance. He didn't trust these 'chosen children' and he couldn't even be sure they knew where Kouichi was. Sure they said that they say his d-tecktor signal, but what if its a trap? It was all very aggravating and it got on Kouji's nerves. Right now, him and his friends were being dragged along to one of the others' house and Kouji was NOT feeling comfortable at all.

"You really need to lighten up, Kouji." Takuya pat his friend on the shoulder heartedly and received an icy glare from the warrior of light. As they continued to walk something caught the twin's eyes in the window display of an electronics store. All the televisions were fuzzy and dark with static that looked like water running across the screen. Kouji had to stop walking completely and noticed that the screen wasn't static at all... it WAS water. Rippling and running and pulsing that made it look like static from far away. But there was an unmistakable patch of beach with a tall tower of sorts sitting on it... a lighthouse.

"Stop window shopping and lets go!" Zoe pulled at Kouji's collar who stumbled backwards and glared at her. He could have sworn that the light from the lighthouse was... darkness.

* * *

It was familiar... scary familiar. Kouichi felt chills race up his spine and goose bumps started to form on his pale skin. Ken seemed to be doing even worse; freezing up and going white as a sheet.

Kouichi shook himself; "Ken, the emperor is coming! How do we get out?" no response... "Ken?"

"I can't digivolve. Ken doesn't have his digivise." Wormmon stated sadly. Digivise... was that like a d-tector? Kouichi's hand automatically went to his back pocket as he thought about it... and he gasped when he felt something there. A familiar black and grey digital devise hummed to life when Kouichi took it out from hiding. Ken looked at him with a confused stare.

"You don't have a digimon..." He said to the other. Kouichi smiled at him knowingly and pressed the scan button. A familiar blue light flashed out of the top and data quickly swam around Kouichi's hand. Only instead of being a regular, comforting blue stream of data it was an eery red color. Kouichi suddenly felt very nervous and he became aware of the darkness around him.

Ken seemed to notice his hesitation, being very curious as to what exactly was to happen. "Something wrong?" He wondered in slight concern. Kouichi shook his head... it was nothing... probably.

_"Spirit... Evolution!"_

It was cold... something was wrong. The... darkness...

It wasn't right... it wasn't right. It wasn't right!

"Aaaaaahhh!"

Ken watched, perplexed and also horrified as Kouichi was enveloped within a blood red cocoon of data. He had never seen anything like it and was confused as to if this was a good thing or something awful had gone wrong. The darkness from the lighthouse washed over them and the next thing Ken knew he was not with Kouichi any longer. In his place was a digimon.

He had long silky blond hair that looked oily and his whole body was covered in black and red armor. What was really unnerving was that all over his armor where red eyes, glaring darkly at him.

_"Duskmon... "_ the creature said as it's evolution ended. Ken was shocked into science... when the loud banging of the emperor caught both their attention. Ken only gasped, Wormmon coming in between his partner as the trap door burst open.

The kaiser strode in angrily to hear a sudden shattering of glass and watched as a tall, dark figure jumped out of the broken window. He looked down, temper rising when he noticed a familiar teen in the figure's clutches and all but screamed as they hit the ground without damage.

Ken was set gently on his feet, the kaiser's frustrated yell echoing above them. The chosen child griped Wormmon as he watched another stream of code envelope duskmon. It fell away to reveal Kouichi out cold on the ground.

"Kouichi! Hey, wake up!" Ken shook him gently and sighed in relief as he started to gain consciousness.

"Ken?" he asked quietly, looking up at him with tired eyes. Ken nodded and helped his friend up.

"Are you allright?" Ken asked in concern. Kouichi tucked hair behind his ear nervously and nodded vaguely. Ken glanced at the tower and then helped Kouichi to his feet.

"The emperor is still after us. We need to get out of here." Wormmon said, encouraging the teens to move onward. Kouichi followed Ken, rubbing his arms as if he were cold, and the digimon trailed behind the two to keep an eye on them. Wormmon took a fleeting glance at the lighthouse once more and when he turned around he noticed a dark stain on Kouichi's back.

"Kouichi, your bleeding!" the insect spoke up suddenly.

"Uhn?" Ken strode around to observe the other's backside.

"It must've reopened," Ken whispered half to himself, lifting the green cloth a bit to see lines of raw skin shedding trails of blood.

"It's fine, really. I'm okay," Kouichi said nervously but Ken could obviously see that Kouichi was in pain.

"Hey, it's allright. I want to help." Ken pulled off Kouichi's shirt to reveal two stripes of red, raw skin crisscrossing over his back irritably. Kouichi untied his red shirt and the other ripped strips from it to tie over the wounds carefully, as to not hurt him. What was left of the shirt Kouichi slung over his neck like a scarf and then put his over shirt back on.

"Thank you, Ken." he whispered hoarsely, giving the other a halfhearted smile. Ken smiled back, then glanced at the lighthouse worriedly. The trio was about to move on again when an ear-splitting scream made the two humans double over.

"Oh no, Ken!" Wormmon looked at the two worriedly as they fell to their knees with their hands over their ears. Ken cried out as the eery wail rocked him to the very bone. Kouichi felt tears prickle out of his eyes painfully as his mother's scream echoed in his head...

—————>>

The next thing Kouichi knew was that he was on the ground, the sounds of waves on the shore hypnotizing him slowly. He groaned as he got up and fell back down with a loud /crack/ Pain zapped up his back like it had before and Kouichi looked up to see the dark eyes of the kaiser glare at him. And in his unoccupied hand was Ken; out cold.

"Let go of him!" Kouichi shouted angrily. The emperor looked at him in mild amusement and then at the boy in his arms.

"You mean him?" He mocked, taking the whip and running it under Ken's chin like a snake.

"Don't you touch him!" /crack/ Kouichi winced and put his hand on his offended shoulder where he could feel warm liquid seep through his shirt.

"I don't think that is up to you, boy. Now you better do as I say or your little friend here... won't ever wake up." The emperor took Ken's chin in his hands and ran a finger down his cheek seductively. Kouichi could just here Ken's hard, shallow breathing.

"Now, _warrior of darkness,_ give me the seed."

"I don't know what your talking about!"

The emperor chuckled deeply, "What I mean is, your spirit."

"Is that what this is all about?" Kouichi burst out angrily, receiving a sharp whip to the face. He was tempted to just beat this guy up, reaching for his d-tector.

"Ah, ah, ah. You wouldn't want little Ken-chan here to get hurt now, would you?" He was trapped. He'd have to rat his way out...

"So how am I supposed to give you the spirit, then?" And the most evil, dark smirk spread across the kaiser's face.

"Die, of course." Kouichi growled deep in his throat, his looking for Wormmon in vain. "It's either you, or Ken." The emperor was toying with him, knowing that Kouichi would do anything for his friends... and he was right. With nothing else he could think of doing without hurting Ken, Kouichi stood up with his head down and his fists tight at his sides. He carefully stepped backwards up to the cliff's edge.

"Let Ken go." his voice was surprisingly strong but wavered in fear. The emperor smirked and through his charge to the side.

"One wrong move and Ken pays the price!" He reminded, gripping his whip. Kouichi's heels where almost off the land, making rocks fall to the waiting water below.

There was a sudden flash of light... pure light, coming from the shore. Kouichi stepped forward as the light grew increasingly stronger. It was so... calming. Like how light should feel; and it shown so brightly through all the darkness...

...Hikari

* * *

The chosen children all held out their d-3's to the computer screen. The frontier followed suit, holding out their d-tectors in hope.

"Digiport Open!" Kari yelled and everyone was pulled into white, hot light. As it faded darkness surrounded them all and the scenery before them melted into an ocean...

There was a sudden, collective gasp as everyone spotted two figures dot a cliff. Kouji in particular stepped forward. A fuzzy recognition swam through the back of his mind and he could think of only one thing.

Kouichi. His brother was up there. His tiwn brother was about to fall off a cliff!

"Kouichi!"

"That's not possible!" the kaiser growled angrily. "I am so close!" he gripped his whip once again and brought it up into the air. It came down with a quick swipe onto Kouichi's face who doubled back in surprise.

...right off the edge of the cliff.

**_To Be Continued..._**

HAHAHAHA! Didn't expect all that did ya? mwahaha! Now thats what I call a cliff hanger!

RYU/lifts eyebrow/ ok, I think you need to calm down... and FINISH this already! your giving me a heart attack with all of your cliff-hangers!

>Hahahaha! Hehehehe... just wait... /wrings hands/

RYU: you don't know what to do next, do you?

>...no comment

RYU: (sigh) it might take a tiny bit longer to update this time around. please ecourage Evide or give an idea. It would help alot.


	6. Meian

_Nightingale: ch6— meian (darkness and light)_

**regular: **OK, this fic really doesn't speak to me any longer. This idea was not thought out and I have no plot. I will finish it for the sake of finishing it, but know it is not my best work. I can't do zero-two and I don't even know why I tried to put this together. Sorry if it is drawn out and scrappy but i have nowhere else to go with it.

/Updated/ _Grrr! I am going to redo it and I am going to do it nicely! GGGGRRRRR! AURGH!_

_RYU: __Again, if Evide owned digimon, I wouldn't be doing a disclaimer. So Evide does not own anything in this fic except for me and her overactive imagination._

Kouichi closed his eyes in shock, the air leaving him in a rush. The water beneath him was hungering for him. His hands automatically reached for his d-tecktor though there was no time to digivolve as he impacted.

Only, he wasn't in water. Kouichi gasped suddenly and relief flowed through his lungs as his mind spun back to reality. Kouji... he had seen Kouji... hadn't he? That light.

"You ok, Kouichi?" The figure who had caught him suddenly addressed, startling him.

"...Wormmon...?" The insect seemed to smile at him quietly.

"I digivolved, I'm Stingmon now." He stated, Kouichi nodded then suddenly sat up, startled. "Ken!"

"It's okay, my friends are here. They are going to help." Stingmon reassured and set Kouichi down on the shore of the black beach. He steadied himself and saw that sure enough, a whole ton of digimon were headed to give the emperor a taste of their minds.

"Kouichi!" said boy looked up suddenly, and instantly recognized his friends coming at him, Kouji among them. Kouichi immediately ran up to his oncoming brother and embraced him tightly.

"That's the second time you were almost lost to the darkness..." Kouji whispered, not letting go for an instant.

"I wasn't lost." Kouichi answered back happily. Their reunion was cut short though as a sudden beam of red shot from the ocean. A dark gleam illuminated the water, and the digimon stopped fighting to watch as something lifted out of the liquid.

"Yes! The dark seed at last!" The beaten kaiser laughed insanely (those rookies really did a number on him). The children around him all stared at the darkening waters below...

The emperor got up and dragged himself to the cliffs edge, and before anyone could react, he fell right off. As his form hit the water, the darkness below engulfed him.

Then everyone was instantly on alert, all the kids reaching for their digivises. Kouichi gasped as the darkness from the water grew...

A demonic figure rose out of the liquid as if it were ash, the dark droplets reflecting the red data to make the figure glow in blood. There was a chorus of gasps as eight eyes opened simultaneously on the figures armor.

"Duskmon..." The frontier glanced at Kouichi almost to make sure he was still there, but his mind seemed lost as he stared up at the creature, his hand frozen over his pocket.

Kouji felt rage swell up inside him. That freak... the digimon emperor had hurt his brother. And now he was using his spirit. How dare he! Kouji grabbed his d-tecktor and pressed the scan button, his motions echoed by his friends.

_"Excecute... Spirit Evolution!"_

"Davis!" Veemon cried, looking determinedly at his partner. Davis nodded with a confidant smile and held out his digivise.

"Veemon, digivolve to... unX-veemon... oh, darn" Veemon fell back to the ground in disappointment, his friends having the same results.

"Get out of here, we'll handle this!" Kazemon shouted to the digidestined who took the advise and fled. Sure enough, the spirits were rearing to fight but yet Duskmon took it all without any damage.

"Why isn't this working!" Lowemon shouted angrily after dodging another blast. It was like Duskmon was everywhere, hitting and attacking wildly without any recognition to any pain, he just seemed to laugh at the whole thing.

"That is for me to know, and for you to find out." Duskmon hissed venomously, _"Slide evolution!"_

"Play time's over! Zone Deleter!" Velgrmon sent a blast of red beams from his eyes, making the hybrids all stumble down. "Dark Obliteration!" with his mighty wings, the bird drew a line in the black sands around the fallen digimon. Once they were all captured in his circle it exploded...

The digidestined gasped, horrified as the black orb made a ridiculous booming sound, leaving a gaping hole in the beach where the other children had been.

"It... it can't be..." Ken whispered horrified.

"They... they lost?" T.K. echoed in the same worried whisper. All of their eyes were on the fading rubble of the hole, hoping for one stir of life...

———>>

_"The darkness is waiting..."_

Kouichi stirred, every muscle aching and looked up at a legendary figure. It had a catlike body like Jagerlowemon's, covered in the same material as his spirits also. It's great cat head reminded him of a sphinx its body had golden wings and he had a mighty confidant posture.

"Who... are you?" Kouichi gasped as the great digimon helped lift him to his feet.

_"I am AncientSphinxmon, the Legendary Warrior of Darkness. I have come to help."_ Kouichi could feel strength returning to him, the pain of the attack leaving him. There was something familiar about him though...

"You... you showed me that... that picture of this place." Kouichi recognized and the lion digimon nodded.

_"I also helped the many others around you, Kouichi Kimura. Remember, darkness is your strength."_ The boy could feel the other's presents around him fade but at the same time, AncientSphinxmon was still with him, just like Lowemon and JagerLowemon. They were one.

_"Excecute... Fusion evolution!"_ His spirits had come together, the darkness was awakened. He was Reichmon.

Kouji forced his eyes open blearily, some of the pain actually bearable. He got a glimpse of a lion-like figure, rising out of the sandy hole, its body covered in the black armor of KaiserLowemon's. He still had a human shape and Lowemon's disposition but what was really new was that the digimon was flying with two great golden black wings.

Reichmon drew out his bow staff, exactly alike Lowemons staff and buried it within the layers of feather in a quick opening strike. The flying digimon pulled it out and started off into the sky as the warrior followed, determined and at the ready.

"Are you all okay!" Kari yelled down into the whole.

"Just peachy..." Takuya answered up to them, groaning. Kouji growled, and watched as Reichmon got locked into a heated battle.

"Kouichi... please be all right."

"Don't worry, we will get you out in a jiffy!" Davis yelled, the supposed leader of the group. Kouji had to wonder why all the leaders had to be hot-headed goggle heads...

————>>

"How can we help?" Yolei asked in a panic watching the fight, Hawkmon trying to calm her down ineffectively.

"We just... wait." Tommy answered helplessly, rubbing his arms where the bruises were forming.

"You're his brother, right? Why can't you help?" T.K. addressed the black haired teen angrily, watching as Reichmon and Duskmon crossed swords over and over in an even match.

"If you didn't notice, none of us could beat him. I wouldn't be of much help now." Kouji crossed his arms unhappily, huffing and mind on its edge as he watched his twin in worry.

"How did you beat him last time?" Cody wondered.

"Me and grumpy over there got the spirit away from him." Takuya said, grimacing as Reichmon was slashed across the chest

"Just hopefully Kouichi can beat him..." Junpei said.

————>>

"Give up, pest! The darkness is mine to control," The emperor growled and slashed at Reichmon again. The lion dodged and launched up into the air to gain some time. This wasn't working, he had to stop him.

"You were never the Warrior of Darkness and you never will be!" Reichmon said and gave the demon a kick from the air. Duskmon grabbed his leg and flipped him around in a rush, leaving the him on the ground, winded.

"You can't beat me. You can't beat the darkness." That's it... he had to beat the darkness. But how? An image of a lone tower perched up on a hillside overlooking the water flashed through his mind. (A/N: this is a quote from one of the previous chapters, can you guess which one?) The tower!

Reichmon jumped up, narrowly missing a swift slash from Duskmon's blood red sword and dashed to the tower with all the speed he could muster. Before the demon could even realize it, the warrior had pummeled into the lighthouses walls, making the tower crumble into debris.

Duskmon glared, he knew he was about to be beaten, unless...

Reichmon watched in horror as the demon digivolved and flew in the opposite direction... right at the huddle of humans.

"Oh no you don't!" Reichmon's catlike speed enabled him to stop the bird in its tracks, a horrid angry glare on Reichmons face. The cat digimon shot his javelin-like spear through Valgrmon's heart and the digimon gave out a sudden cry. His digicode swirled around him, red and lifeless.

"You were never the Warrior of Darkness and you never will be!" Reichmon said, "Fractal Code, Digitize!" with that, Valgrmon's heart let out a dark glow, and at the same time the lighthouse's beam swam over the land. Everyone was enveloped in darkness, only this time... it wasn't evil.

* * *

Ken shot out of bed with a start, glancing at Wormmon. The dark of the night was comforting somehow, and Ken laid back down. For some reason, he couldn't remember the dream he had just had. The moon seemed brighter to the chosen and he drifted off to sleep once more.

_"The darkness is waiting..."_

****

END

HAHA! Beat that, stupid ideas!

RYU: you are talking... to your ideas?

I know now to never ever do an 0204 cross ever again! Hope the ending was better this time! TELL ME!

RYU: and we are done... again.


End file.
